Justice League watch: We will be watching OSC Scott J. Bloch's investigation into Rove.

Here is the scoop about OSC Scott J. Bloch:


Bloch, a Kansas lawyer who served at the Justice Department's Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives, was appointed by President Bush three years ago.



Bloch replaced Elaine D. Kaplan, the government's chief enforcer of Hatch Act and whistle-blower laws.






From the Washington Post:

Kaplan, who has served as head of the Office of Special Counsel since May 1998 after being nominated by then-President Bill Clinton, sent a resignation letter to President Bush, and said she would leave June 2, 2003. Her term had expired last month and it seemed unlikely that Bush would keep a Democratic nominee in the post.

In her letter to Bush, Kaplan said OSC's work "is central to the merit-based civil service, particularly through its efforts to protect federal employee whistleblowers against retaliation and to oversee the investigations of their disclosures of wrongdoing."

Because of heightened concerns about national security, Kaplan said, "it is very important that OSC be viewed as a credible, nonpartisan advocate on behalf of whistleblowers." She said she hoped that goal would continue to be a high priority for the administration.
Kaplan's supporters had urged Bush and congressional Republican leaders to keep her on the job for another term.

Six Senate Democrats wrote Bush in March expressing their support. Sens. Daniel K. Akaka (Hawaii), Carl M. Levin (Mich.), Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), Richard J. Durbin (Ill.) and Mark Dayton (Minn.) said Kaplan "has transformed the OSC into an agency that has earned both the trust of whistleblowers and the confidence of Congress."

Leaders of advocacy groups and two union leaders had previously written to members of Congress to urge Kaplan's reappointment. Among those signing the letter were Reed Irvine, president of Accuracy in Media; Kris J. Kolesnik, executive director of the National Whistleblower Center; Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight and Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project.

From the CREW website:

Bloch has come under widespread criticism for his gross mismanagement and politicization of the office. Bloch is currently under investigation by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for his mistreatment of career appointees, who have alleged the exact kind of retaliation that OSC is designed to investigate. OSC employees have alleged that Bloch has tossed out legitimate whistleblower cases to reduce the office backlog.

The probe into Bloch’s conduct has been stymied by the fear of OSC staff that speaking to investigators will result in reprisal. Prominent conservatives, who support Bloch in part because he adopted a sexual orientation policy that makes it more difficult for gay employees to allege discrimination, have called on President Bush to protect Bloch from the OPM investigation.

Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, said today, “Having transformed OSC into a virtual black hole for legitimate complaints of retaliation, Bloch is decidedly not the right person to tackle the issues of misconduct and illegality that surround top White House officials.” Sloan continued, “There is a serious question as to whether Bloch will just provide cover for an administration that has been covering for him.”